Pembroke raising minimum age for buying tobacco to 21

PEMBROKE – If it saves just one life, the effort will be worth it for Donna Bagni.

In an effort to curb youth smoking, the Pembroke Board of Health voted to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 during its meeting Monday night.

“Right now, if someone wants to smoke or drink alcohol and they’re not of age, they are going to find a way to do so,” said Bagni, the board’s chairwoman. “If we can just stop one or two kids from starting to smoke, I feel that we have done our job. The question I asked tonight was that if a store owner has vaping materials or oils, why don’t they have nicorette gum or patches right next to it? They aren’t opening things up for the whole possibility for products that can help.”

When the change will go into effect was not determined Monday night. A decision will probably be made in the next month, the board said.

“Most towns give retailers three months to a year to comply,” town Health Agent Lisa Cullity said. “That is traditional. You could make it effective immediately, but that is putting a harsh burden on retailers who need time to train their staff and reorganize their stores if necessary. Six months is most common, although I cannot speak for the board.”

According to Cullity, 141 of the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns have raised the age to purchase tobacco products to 21.

Several towns on the South Shore have raised the age in recent years, including Kingston, Scituate, Hull, Braintree and Canton. In 2005, Needham became the first town in Massachusetts to raise the age to 21.

Attorney Cheryl Sbarra from the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards will attend the Pembroke board’s Feb. 27 meeting to discuss a “shopping template” of what will be added to the list of 21-plus items.

Southeast Tobacco-Free Community Partnership program manager Kathleen Wilbur met with the board to discuss future options beyond simply raising the minimum age to 21 and offered to meet with the board again in the future.